The First of Many Firsts

Saturday, June 16, 2012

This past week was my first full week of my summer job. I'm working as a group leader for a summer day camp with youth. This past week, I worked with 8-9 year olds in an afternoon soccer camp. Many of them were going into 3rd grade next year and gave me some advice. One camper said that I need to be fun, but strict, so that they don't 'stomp' all over me. Duly noted. It was also fun to get to see kids in a setting outside of the classroom... it made me wonder though how they acted in school as well...

My first set of trainings starts next week. I have literacy training Tuesday-Thursday. Not quite sure what it all entails, but I'm sure it will go over Reader's Workshop from the Teacher's College perspective, as my sister has referenced this before. My principal says I'll learn a ton from it, so I am excited to learn and begin applying it towards my planning and preparation for this upcoming school year.

I continue to be offered interviews. One was from my hometown, which I was surprised by since I heard the number of people who applied was insanely high and the principal told me that I would be contacted in early June if I had gotten an interview. Early June came and went so I assumed I was out of the running. It was for a fourth grade position, which would have been fun. I also got another interview for a fourth grade position in another town of similar size and demographic to my hometown. My mom asked why I wasn't taking the interviews anyway, and to be honest, I am really excited about my choice. There are many pluses, including location, school status (it's a reward school according to the new Multiple Measurement Rating system), and team members among other things. There may come a time when I hope to return closer to home, but for now, I feel very content.

I've also started a to-do list of things I want to try to accomplish prior to being allowed in my classroom. One of the reasons I wanted a job in June instead of August was so that I could slowly prepare without feeling overwhelmed. I just need to make sure I take advantage of it.

Now that this adventure is truly underway, I am trying to make it the most positive experience possible. In doing so, I am relying on taking advice and finding words of encouragement. I'm going to try to close each post from now on with one of the above to remind myself. This post's words of wisdom comes from someone who recently finished her first year of teaching and shared some advice upon finding out that I got the job:

"A lot of teachers get super caught up in perfection- just remember the kids you will be influencing- that's what is most important!!!"

I have a lot of hopes for this upcoming year and a lot of ideas I want to incorporate. But I'll need to remember the reason I am here and make sure I am using my time wisely on what's most beneficial to my students and remember that I'll have many many years to continue to improve and add new things. I'm grateful for this piece of advice :)